2:00 AM
by Bria
Summary: This wasn't catching a taxi ride home at a street corner at 2:00 AM. It was better than that. Unabashed fluffy pregnancy/baby fic.


Disclaimer: Doctor Who isn't mine. If it was things would be quite different. The BBC owns all and I bow before them.

Author's Note: For the second year in a row I find myself writing pregnancy/baby!fic on this day. I don't know if I've started a trend or something, lol. Regardless, Happy 10-2! :)

There is a part of this that is total homage to author Mike Stackpole (though I don't directly quote I do paraphrase). If you can pick out what series and book it's from I'll give you a cookie. It's fairly vague but I want to give credit where credit is due, as one line of his has stuck with me for _years_.

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><p>The Doctor awoke suddenly. Rose was not beside him and while he sensed no alarm through their bond and the TARDIS wasn't warning him of anything, her absence from their bed in the middle of the night during the last days of her pregnancy was something his subconscious had keenly picked up on.<p>

He quickly glanced to the ensuite but there was no light from within and reaching his hand out to feel the sheets next to him confirmed Rose had been gone for more than a few minutes. He hauled himself to his feet and went off to find his wife.

"Rose?" He called out softly as he entered the corridor and saw a dim light streaming in from the galley. The Doctor found her bathed in the moonlight shining through the window as the TARDIS's working chameleon circuit now had the ship disguised as a caretaker's cottage on the grounds of the Tyler estate.

Rose looked up with a smile as he entered and he was suddenly reminded of the last time he had found her bathed in light, with the Time Vortex running through her. Now everything was natural, as it should be, and not only was she illuminated but she was glowing with the tiny life within her. She was absolutely stunning.

"What are my favorite ladies doing up in the middle of the night?"

The TARDIS hummed happily in his mind and Rose leaned back into his arms as he encircled her from behind, and after a brief caress to her belly, his hands came to rest on top of her bump.

"I'm makin' tea."

"Why didn't you wake me?" The Doctor tsked lightly in her ear. "You're supposed to be on bed rest and I would've done that for you."

Rose turned around so she was facing him but remained in his arms. "I might be due any day, Doctor, but as it didn't require a trip to Tescos for peanut butter and pickles or a shake and chips, I knew I could manage. 'Sides, you were snornin' so peacefully, I didn't want to interrupt."

"Oi! I'll have you know, Time Lords do not snore."

She chuckled at him, tongue peeking out from between her teeth. "You keep telling yourself that, my love. All three of my yous have. Found you asleep in the library a few times with a book in your hands, remember?"

Trying to maintain a frown but failing miserably, the Doctor stepped towards the cupboard as Rose went to the stove. As he grabbed mugs for them both, he glanced at the clock above the stove and in the dim light he saw the time. 2:00 AM. After three years with Rose they were having the kind of moment he never would've thought possible before. They'd enjoyed many late nights together since they had been left in Pete's World but never one where he had looked at a clock at exactly this time. He broke into a huge grin at that thought.

"What?" Rose asked as she removed the whistling tea kettle and poured water into both mugs before she popped a tea bag in each and handed one to him.

"Sometimes I still can't believe I'm here with you, living this life."

Rose started to smile at him but then grimaced in discomfort as she sat down. "Alli woke me with hiccups on my bladder and now I think your daughter's preparing for a marathon."

"My daughter?" He quipped as he sat his own mug down on the table and knelt beside Rose, reaching for her belly once again. He hadn't felt anything moments ago but there was movement now and little kicks against his splayed out fingers.

"Yep," she replied around a yawn. "Two in the morning and bouncing around while I'm trying to sleep? That has you written all over it."

The Doctor could only smile at her sheepishly. He might not need as much sleep now as a normal human but since the metacrisis he certainly appreciated why humans needed (and loved) sleeping so much. He pressed a kiss to Rose's swollen abdomen and lightly brushed their baby's subconscious in an attempt to soothe her.

At least for a moment, it seemed to work and Rose leaned down and kissed the top of his head. "Thank you. Sorry I woke you too."

The Doctor shook his head as he stood and stepped behind her so he could massage her shoulders. "You didn't exactly. Your absence at my side did."

Rose glanced up at him and there was a light flush across the apple of her cheeks. "Oh, Doctor," she groaned as a knot beneath his fingers suddenly dissolved. "That feels so good."

In other circumstances that sound would've created a very different reaction in the Doctor, but right now he gave her a satisfied hum as he continued to work. After establishing their marital bond he hadn't thought he and Rose could get any closer or more in tune but her pregnancy had made their connection even tighter.

He paused for a moment to take a sip of his tea and then got back to work until surprise suddenly flared through the bond with both his wife and daughter.

"Oh!" Rose's right hand flew to her mouth.

"Was that," the Doctor began, although he was fairly certain what had just happened.

Rose nodded, though she didn't wait for him to finish. "More like a trickle than a gush but yeah."

The Doctor grinned at her and his eyes flickered toward the door leading to the console room where Rose's bags were packed and waiting. Initially he had wanted to deliver Alli himself on the TARDIS (I've done it several times throughout the years Rose, he had tried to reason) but when she told him they had started their lives together hand in hand and she wanted their daughter's birth to be the same he could hardly argue further. Plus there was her promise if they had another child he could deliver him or her.

Rose's eyes met his as they travelled back from the bags to the table and she flashed him a radiant grin. "Almost time, Doctor. Are you ready?"

The Doctor offered her his hand to help her up. "I've been ready since the moment we knew you were pregnant. Before then actually. "

Rose kissed him and then hugged him tightly. "Me too. I'd like to get cleaned up and then we call the hospital to advise them we'll come in once the contractions start. After they do we can let mum and dad know. I want a bit of peace before we do that."

The Doctor nodded wholeheartedly as he led Rose back to their bedroom's ensuite. As they walked down the corridor he couldn't help but reflect on how lucky he was. He had a home and life with her in their very own TARDIS and now their daughter would soon be joining them. This wasn't catching a taxi ride home at a street corner at 2:00 AM. It was better than that. He was already there, with the loves of his many lives, and he couldn't be happier if he tried.

_End_


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